Chapter 7: King Under the Mountain

[Scott308]

Glasik Ironfoot

Seeing the dragon breath immolate three of his friends, Glasik realizes this desperate fight can only end with the total slaughter of one side. Determined that that side will not be the one containing elf and dwarf, the burly dwarf continues his furious assault on the horrible wyrm, his axe blade biting deep into dragon flesh.

Battle Axe, Dragon Slayer, +4 vs Dragons (12): [1d20] = 18; Damage: [1d8+8] = 3+8 = 11

[wolfpack]

with an inkling of why the dragon did not breath fire on him elbenwin makes a move.

when the dragons head gets near he ground or some enbankment he is going to try and jump on its head believing it wont use it's fire on him while he holds the ring.

gripping the ring in one hand so tight it draws blood from his palm and with the other tries to drive the dragon slayer into the roof of the dragons mouth.

[1d20+4] = 10+4 = 14
damage

[Starbeard]

Vindo's view of the battle is obscured by dark flame and the shanks of Smaug. He feels only heat and scale, smoke and gold. Whether his friends are alive, or whether they have fled the onslaught, he cannot tell. "To home, Birr! To home in its belly! Enedhwaith!"

Birr (short sword +2 dragonslayer): [1d20+2] = 17+2 = 19, Damage: [1d6+2] = 2+2 = 4 vs Small / [1d8+2] = 2+2 = 4 vs Large

[SocraticLawyer]

Tinuwen will mourn the loss of her sister and her companions later. When the wyrm lies dead. To that end, she fires two more dragonbane arrows at the beast.

To hit Smaug with anti-dragon arrow [1d20+10] = 1+10 = 11

To hit Smaug with anti-dragon arrow [1d20+10] = 12+10 = 22

Assuming the first missed and the second hit:

Damage from dragon arrow [1d6+4] = 1+4 = 5

[Inferno]

Smaug's Lair, Erebor, The Lonely Mountain, The Desolation of Smaug, Rhovanion, Middle Earth
March 24, Year One of the Fourth Age
Day Six. Midday. Misty, cold




In hundreds of years of terrible life, Smaug has become a creature of dreadful power; master of fire and air, wicked in mind, cruel in strength, vast in size, and insatiable in greed.

His thunderous voice is filled with the bitter wisdom of age, mocking Elbenwin's defiance:

"Destroy me, little man?! I kill where I wish and none dare resist! I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today! Certainly not you!
Now... give me My Precious!"

The immeasurable calamity descends upon Elbenwin from above and through some miracle, the Ring Bearer survives the ferocious onslaught! (only 1hp damage!) The valiant Dunedan ranger advances upon the deadly jaws of Smaug but his enchanted sword cannot find its way past the thicket of gigantic fangs!

The skulking beardless dwarf whispers to himself, "...My precious!..." as he lifts a shimmering dwarf-sword from the treasure pile.



Then he silently sneaks up behind Elbenwin!

The Company renews its dire assault against Smaug! Gilly the dwarf cannot cleave the nigh-invincible dragon scales! Elbenarin's grief for the dead, and concern for his brother's safety, ruins his aim! And beneath the enormous monster, Folco finds the wyrm's soft underbelly embedded with an impenetrable armor of diamonds and coins from his golden bed!

But through fire and smoke, the Company's legendary weapons of yore flash and flare like summer lightning! New arrows from Tinuwen and from Therone sink to the feathers! (5hp damage and 8hp damage!) And Vindo's blade and Glasik's ax both strike true! (6hp damage and 11hp damage!) The results are devastating.

(Next round...)

Smaug knows he is near death!



His body is grievously wounded. Long ago, the Ring had grievously wounded his mind. Taken him and bent his will toward an all-consuming craving. Now, that unquenchable hunger guides his final spiteful thoughts. Desperate and fatal, the dragon roars in black anger:

"If I cannot have The Ring, then none shall have it!"

And the air is seared by a flash of raging flame that might be the last breath of the last fire-breathing dragon of Middle-earth!



(55hp of damage to every PC except Therone and Vindo! Or 27hp damage if a Save vs Breath Weapon is made.
Folco's damage is halved due to partial cover.
All PC saves are at +5, due to Magic Rings. Magic armor, and Defensive Adjustment from Dex counts too.
If you survive, please post your action! Good luck, everyone!!!)


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 30 feet. Dark circles are pillars.


Behind the DM Screen:

Initiative: Good: [1d6] = 5, Evil: [1d6] = 6 Evil wins.

Smaug attacks Elbenwin: claw/claw/bite: [1d20] = 9, [1d20] = 6, [1d20] = 6 Wow. Only one claw hits!
Smaug damage to Elbenwin: [1d8] = 1 Wow again. The dice roller must know this is a Tolkien game.

PC attacks:
No critical fumbles in this game.
Due to Smaug's size, there are no issues firing missiles into this melee.
Smaug doesn't lower his head, so Elbenwin cannot climb atop it.
+4 to hit soft underbelly or inside the dragon's mouth.
-1 to hit for Elbenarin, Folco, Glasik and Vindo due to Dragon Aura.
Elbenarin, Elbenwin, Folco and Gilly miss. Thereone and Tinuwen each hit with one arrow and miss with another. Glasik and Vindo hit.

Next round:
Initiative: Good: [1d6] = 1, Evil: [1d6] = 3 Evil wins.
Breath weapons precede melee attacks in initiative order. So Smaug attacks before Gollum can backstab Elbenwin.

Smaug's breath weapon does 77hp damage. Rings of Fire Resistance reduce 2hp of damage per hit dice, or 22hp. This results in 55hp damage, or 27hp damage if Saving Throw vs Breath Weapon is made. Good luck!

PC Status:

Elbenarin: Male Dunedan Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 34/34, -1 to hit
Elbenwin: Male Dunedan Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 33/34
Folco Boffin: Male Hobbit Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 16/21, -1 to hit
Gilda 'Gilly' Ironfoot: Female Dwarvish Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 32/41
Glasik Ironfoot: Male Dwarvish Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 24/34, -1 to hit
Gilwennen: Female Elvish Fighter/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: -2, HP: -14/13, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl
Naruthirdor Nowe: Male Elvish Magic-User 2: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: -19/8, Spells: 2/4 1st lvl
Rumil: Male Elvish Fighter/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: -15/12, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl
Therone: Female Elvish Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: -2, HP: 11/31, Torch at feet
Tinuwen: Female Elvish Fighter/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: -2, HP: 12/12, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
Vindoboduoc: Male Man Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 19/19, Torch at feet, -1 to hit
Red: Guard Dog: Move: 12", AC: 6, HD: 2+2, HP: 11/11, AT: 1, D: 1-4, THAC0: 16, Paralyzed with fear

PC Magic:

None currently.

Player Resources:

In Darkness and In Doubt (the story so far)
Before The Fall (realms and maps of Middle Earth)
The Fear and The Shadow (the story so far in images)
History Became Legend. Legend Became Myth (clues and player notes)

[Scott308]

Glasik Ironfoot

Glasik is sick of this dragon, the usurper who has settled into ancient dwarven holdings! He seeks to end its miserable existence once and for all. Drawing back his axe for a mighty swing, he shouts out, Just shut up and die alre-. Then the dragon belches fire, engulfing the dwarf in an excruciating inferno of heat and pain. Mercifully, while intense, the pain is brief, as the last of Glasik's life force is cooked away in an instant. He falls to the ground, a burnt corpse, failing in his final moments the task he promised Gandalf he would see through. At least having died here, his bones will be interred for all eternity in his peoples' ancestral home.

Save vs. Breath Weapon (16): [1d20] = 17
Success, even without bonuses from ring and magic armor! It'll still put him negative, but not instant death. Quick, someone heal him, since nobody seems to be able to hit the stupid dragon anymore.

[SocraticLawyer]

Tinuwen reaches for another dragonbane arrow. As she knocks the arrow, she sees the dragonflame as it washes over her. For a brief instant, all she perceives is heat and pain.

And then it is over.

Tinuwen also could not survive no matter the roll,
so I didn't bother.

If my calculations are correct, Smaug has exactly one hit point left. Both of Tinuwen's hits did the minimum possible damage, so it just goes to show that the die roller hates me/us.

Here's hoping that one member of the party with more HP can hit Smaug!!!

[ravenn4544]

Elbenarin watches the ancient and foul beast as it prepares to unleash it's fiery inevitability. He begins to dodge to the left as he sees his brother engaged in what seems to be hand to hand combat with the Great Wyrm.... then.... Such HEAT.. then such PAIN as the flesh melts and sloughs off with the now glowing hot metal armor...

Save vs. Breath (16) [1d20+5] = 11+5 = 16

Somehow still alive. Amon Amarth in hand, he finds he's still close enough to strike at the dragon - but the agony of the fire is too much to overcome so quickly...

Long Sword Attack [1d20+2] = 4+2 = 6 (THACO=18)

[OGRE MAGE]

Save vs. Breath (16) [1d20] = 9 I believe he is +9 for ring and Dex adj., which I think makes it successful by 2. (but please correct me if I'm wrong, that was a lot of adjustments to wade through)

Folco closes his eyes once the conflagration begins, slinking under the belly of the beast a bit further, which likely saves his poor, wretched life. Hearing the whoosh of the flames and the screams of his dying friends is enough to snap the hidden hobbit out of his painful stupor. Looking at the carnage upon and around him, all the tiny burglar can think to do is to drive his sword up into the things massive body a second time, hoping for better results.

Letopna Attack (+2 Shortsword) [1d20+2] = 9+2 = 11 Damage s/m [1d6+2] = 6+2 = 8 l [1d8+2] = 2+2 = 4

[wolfpack]

[1d20] = 16 +5 = 21



As the fire washes over him Elbenwin stares at the ring........and slides it on his finger.

he then tries to finish the wyrm

[1d20] = 7 +4 = 11

[hedgeknight]

Gilda Ironfoot

Gilly is about to yell for her brother to run when the wave of intense heat, followed by a roar of agony, takes her breath away...and leaves her on her knees, barely alive.
Breath Death Save (12): [1d20] = 16

Her first thought is her brother...and she sees his blackened body, burned beyond recognition.
Her next thought is for Red...and she looks beside her and there is nothing left but a black smear where he used to be.
Anger explodes inside her as she uses her pick to push herself up. She staggers toward the wyrm and swings with all of the strength she has left, hoping she dies after this...her grief is almost too much.
Footman's Pick: [1d20] = 8 Damage: [2d4+1] = 5+1 = 6

[Starbeard]

Vindo attempts to stay unseen at the dragon's belly, but the heat is too much for him. He flails wildly with Birr to no avail, blinded by the black smoke and red light!

Birr (short sword +2 dragonslayer): [1d20+2] = 1+2 = 3, Damage: [1d6+2] = 2+2 = 4 vs Small / [1d8+2] = 2+2 = 4 vs Large

[Urson]

Therone
Therone chokes back a sob as she sees flames swallow her companions. She grits her teeth, stepping out of the shelter of the pillar to shoot Smaug with two more of the dragon-bane arrows.

[1d20] = 10+9 Magic arrows [1d6] = 1+4

[1d20] = 2+9 Magic arrows [1d6] = 2+4

She dive/rolls back to the lee of the pillar, praying that her aim was true.

[Inferno]

Smaug's Lair, Erebor, The Lonely Mountain, The Desolation of Smaug, Rhovanion, Middle Earth
March 24, Year One of the Fourth Age
Day Six. Midday. Misty, cold




Smaug the Great has become desperate and perilous. He swears a hateful oath of vengeance and wrath:

"If I cannot have The Ring, then none shall have it!"

Fire leaps from his jaws and the air is seared by a flash of raging flame that might be the last breath of the last fire-breathing dragon of Middle-earth!



The vast blaze engulfs the beardless emaciated dwarf just as he raises a treacherous blade against Elbenwin's back! And then it rolls forth in a wild torrent, consuming most of the Company! (Folco takes 13hp damage. Elbenarin, Elbenwin, Gilly, Glasik, Tinuwen and Red each take 27hp damage!)

Alas! So passes immortal Tinuwen, joining her beloved sister in death. Faithful Red too is taken by flame. Glasik the dwarf falls upon a river of molten gold but still draws breath!

"Nooo! Mustn't hurt the precious!" are the last words of wretched Smeagol. And then he is no more.

Elbenwin can resist the call of the One Ring no longer! He brings it to his finger as he whispers, "precious," and suddenly the volcanic dragon-flame of Smaug the Great, last of the fire-drakes, melts and consumes the Ring, its letters shining like a living pyre before it is unmade!



The Ring is destroyed! The foundations of Erebor shake and the wild conflagration leaps up on a wind unseen!

Like the breaking of a spell, the Dunedan ranger is suddenly released from its terrible will and remains Elbenwin.

Wracked and beset, Smaug mourns his own actions, roaring, "The Precious!"



Elbenarin, Elbenwin, Folco, Gilly and Vindo, caught in the perdition of flame and tumult, cannot pierce the dragon-scales in this, their final chance! All the Company's legendary weapons fail at this fateful moment, turned aside by Smaug's invulnerable armor!

All but one. Therone the elf peers around a fire-blackened pillar into the choke of wreck and flame. Her dragon-bane arrows nearly spent, she fits a shaft to the bowstring and fires! The first missile sails high on the hot blast of the holocaust! But her second arrow flies true! It sinks deep into Smaug's breast and disappears, so fierce is its flight! (5hp damage!)

The dragon's roar is nigh to deafening, threatening to bring down the towering dwarf-halls upon them all! In his murderous throes, the vast cataclysm crashes down upon jewels and diamonds in ruin and flame and death!

Thus falls Smaug, King Under the Mountain, the last great dragon of Middle-earth!

The sudden silence is shattered by a thundering and a great confusion of noise emanating from Elbenarin's possessions! The wounded ranger produces the palantír, the lost seeing stone of the First ElvenKing's Hall; now alive with a terrible light!



Within it, the Company beholds terrifying visions of Mordor undone!

There, the firmaments of the earth groan and quake! Rising swiftly up, far above the towers of a black gate, high above the mountains, a vast soaring darkness springs into the sky, flickering with fire. Black towers sway, totter, and fall! Mighty ramparts crumble! A great black gate is hurled in ruin!



And from far away, there grows a drumming rumble, a roar, a long echoing roll of ruinous noise! Black against the pall of cloud, there rises a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky! Enormous, it rears above the world, and stretches out toward the Company a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it reaches over them, a great wind takes it, and it is blown away, and passes. And then a hush falls over the world.

The Dark Lord, Sauron is dead! His realm is no more! The true quest of The Company is fulfilled!


Actions?! (for the next 10 minutes or so. And congrats!)


Map:

One square = 30 feet. Dark circles are pillars.


Behind the DM Screen:

Initiative: Good: [1d6] = 1, Evil: [1d6] = 3 Evil wins.
Breath weapons precede melee attacks in initiative order. So Smaug attacks before Gollum can backstab Elbenwin.

Smaug's breath weapon does 77hp damage. Rings of Fire Resistance reduce 2hp of damage per hit dice, or 22hp. This results in 55hp damage, or 27hp damage if Saving Throw vs Breath Weapon is made.

Tinuwen and Red are dead whether they save or not. Gollum too. In the spirit of Tolkien, I'll say they saved.
Folco saves. Folco's damage is halved again due to partial cover: 13hp damage.
Glasik saves and is unconscious from 27hp of damage. Wounds are cauterized. He will not 'bleed out.'
Elbenarin, Elbenwin and Gilly save, take 27hp damage and remain conscious.

PC attacks:
Due to Smaug's size, there are no issues firing missiles into this melee.
+4 to hit soft underbelly or inside the dragon's mouth.
-1 to hit for Elbenarin, Folco, Glasik and Vindo due to Dragon Aura.

Folco, Vindo, Elbenwin, Elbenarin and Gilly all miss!
Therone misses with her first arrow. She barely hits with her final arrow and rolls minimum damage but it's enough. Because SocraticLawyer was right. Smaug had but 1 hit point left!

Wow. Congratulations everyone. You killed Smaug the Great, a Red Dragon!

PC Status:

Elbenarin: Male Dunedan Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 7/34, -1 to hit
Elbenwin: Male Dunedan Ranger 3: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 6/34
Folco Boffin: Male Hobbit Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 2, HP: 3/21, -1 to hit
Gilda 'Gilly' Ironfoot: Female Dwarvish Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 5/41
Glasik Ironfoot: Male Dwarvish Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP:-3/34, -1 to hit
Gilwennen: Female Elvish Fighter/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: -2, HP: -14/13, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl
Naruthirdor Nowe: Male Elvish Magic-User 2: Move: 12", AC: 9, HP: -19/8, Spells: 2/4 1st lvl
Rumil: Male Elvish Fighter/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: -15/12, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl
Therone: Female Elvish Fighter 3: Move: 9", AC: -2, HP: 11/31, Torch at feet
Tinuwen: Female Elvish Fighter/Magic-User 2/1: Move: 9", AC: -2, HP: -15/12, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
Vindoboduoc: Male Man Thief 3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 19/19, Torch at feet, -1 to hit
Red: Guard Dog: Move: 12", AC: 6, HD: 2+2, HP: -16/11, AT: 1, D: 1-4, THAC0: 16

PC Magic:

None currently.

Player Resources:

In Darkness and In Doubt (the story so far)
Before The Fall (realms and maps of Middle Earth)
The Fear and The Shadow (the story so far in images)
History Became Legend. Legend Became Myth (clues and player notes)

[Urson]

Therone
Therone whoops with joy, watching the Great Dragon die... but then she looks around, counting the costs. So many dead. Her eyes well tears, and she stands, weeping, for a few minutes.
After she can compose herself a bit, she begins the horrible, sad task of collecting the dead. As best she can, she brings each of the dead members of The Fellowship to the SW corner. Each one, arms crossed and eyes closed, with their weapons beside them.

[Starbeard]

Vindo, tired beyond thought, helps tend to the dead. He brandishes the drinking horn of Rorektalis from his belt and touches its rim to each of the fallen, then passes the horn to the living so that all can share the last of its wine.

He then looks down and notices the pile of treasure he is using like a tuffet, and his gaze returns dumbfounded to the contents of the room. "Will this all stay forever buried, here with the dragon?" he wonders aloud.

[ravenn4544]

Elbenarin also helps with honoring the fallen. He takes a moment to salute his brothers bravery in trying to grapple a dragon. "Heroes of legend have been celebrated for doing half of what you have done! Dragon Slayer, indeed!"

[hedgeknight]

Gilda Ironfoot

Gilly jumps back as Smaug the Great and Terrible falls and thrashes in death. She gawps at the great beast lying there, taut and ready for it to spring back to life...and when that doesn't happen, she drops her pick and staggers to her brother's side. Tears fall on Glasik's face when she realizes he still has life in him.
"Be there any healing among us?!?" she shouts, as she collapses beside the burned body of her brother. He holds her fingers, like he used to when she was little and he led her through the mines, afraid she would get lost. She holds his, willing him to keep breathing.
(Does Vindo's drinking horn restore some life in him?)

Afterward, Gilly finds Therone and hugs her fiercely. She can't really say anything because it would be unlike a Dwarf to sob uncontrollably, and she can barely hold it in as it goes.

And then to Vindo, Gilly says, "Ta answer ye question...No! It will not stay buried. And this vile beast here? We be draggin' his sorry dead ass outside fer tha crows and critter of tha night ta feast upon! And if we can't drag him, me and me brother will chop him inta pieces and carry them out of this hall. Tha stench will clear in time and there will be forges lit and tales told in these halls once again!"

[Urson]

Therone
Therone is surprised by Gilly's hug, and returns it awkwardly. The two women stand for a bit, their tears mixing to honor the dead.

[hedgeknight]

Gilda Ironfoot

"I count ye as a friend, Therone," Gilly manages after several seconds of wiping her eyes and blowing her nose, rather loudly, on an old handkerchief she pulls from inside her armor.
"And will gladly stand by yer side, should it come ta that. Now," she sniffs, pointing at the unbelievable mound of treasure, "how much do ya think ye can carry outta here?"